Unsupported Hardware on Newly Purchased Dell T140

Question

Someone might have the same experience two or three years ago but I just lost track of which MS forum I saw it.

Long story short, I installed WS2012 R2 (not purchased from Dell) on a newly bought Dell T140 with Intel E3V6 processor. After first run of Windows update (after OS installation), it keeps popping up "Unsupported Hardware". Chatted with Dell support who classified it's OS related issue and it needs to be resolved by MS. Dell referred me to a MS support site which requires a single use subscription at CAD $590 for support. This sounds ridiculous from both vendors. Dell, on one hands, claims the product supports WS2012 R2 on the other hand never get it certified by MS whereas MS disallows new hardware to run older OS.

Does anyone know it there is any workarounds to get this resolved?

I also have a HP M-150 G9 server which has Ws2016 activated years ago. Is it possible to transfer the license to the Dell one?

Thanks in advance for any comments.

Answer 1

According to the Dell site drivers are available so it should be fine to install 2012 R2 on it.
https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/product-support/product/poweredge-t140/drivers

Make sure you install the Dell chipset as first step. The chipset allows the operating system to find and use devices integrated into the mother board.

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Answer 2

Hi,

To answer the quesiton above, please kindly check the following:

1, It seems we are facing the issue decribled in this article:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-client/deployment/processor-not-supported-together-with-windows-version

2, MS has a supported processor list available:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/design/minimum/windows-processor-requirements

Company may submit for certification (in the Windows Hardware Compatibility Program) Customer Systems running Windows Server 2012R2 and the identified processors until December 31, 2018; after such date, no new Customer Systems will be certified running Windows Server 2012R2.
It indicates that hardware vendor (such as Dell, Lenovo, HP, etc., not the end user) should connect Microsoft for the certification. According to Dell support, the new processor is not get certified. Thus, the "Unsupported Hardware" is expected behavior.

3, As for the workaround, here's an article (from another hardware vendor Lenovo, also Intel Xeon E3 v6 processors) by applying KB4022726. We may try to see if it works, but not guaranteed.
https://support.lenovo.com/sg/en/solutions/ht503996-microsoft-windows-2012-r2-shows-unsupported-hardware-message-when-scanning-or-downloading-windows-updates-lenovo-system-x3250-m6
Note: this is not from MS, just for your reference.

4, For the license transfer, it's probably yes. Since this is not a technical question, it's suggested to contact Microsoft licensing center to double confirm.
https://www.microsoft.com/Licensing/servicecenter/default.aspx

Hope the above information helps.

Regards,

Alex
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